Mars Earns First Repeat MSA Sports Cup Class AAA Title

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, June 27, 2013 | 4:51 PM

The first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup has shown us that while there are a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup has been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup in ten years. However for the first time, a Triple-A school has captured the MSA Sports Cup for a second straight year.

Mars earned 520 points, giving them a 105-point cushion over runner-up South Fayette. Former winner South Park was third with Indiana fourth and another former champ, West Allegheny fifth. Rounding out the Class AAA top ten were Ambridge, Hopewell, Hampton, Blackhawk and the only other two-time Triple-A Cup winner, Moon.

The Fighting Planets were like the tortoise when he beat the hare…they won by going slow and steady. While other schools built their points with numerous district or state championships, Mars was consistent in scoring points and making the postseason in 16 of the 20 sports. Now there were some golden moments for Mars, including WPIAL championships in both girls soccer and girls volleyball.

The 16 overall playoff berths for Mars tied them for second overall this school year with Mount Lebanon, trailing only North Allegheny.  The second Triple-A MSA Sports Cup for the Fighting Planets ties them with Moon for most titles in the classification. The Tigers won their championships in 2044-2005 and in 2006-2007.

Tags: Mars